New Metroid made Sakamoto cry

The next instalment in the Metroid series is so emotionally charged it brought one of the game's creators to tears.

That's according to Nintendo's Ryuzi Kitaura, speaking in the latest Iwata Asks interview. He said producer Yoshio Sakamoto was left speechless the first time he saw storyboards for the cut-scenes in Metroid: Other M. "I thought there was no hope for me, I thought I should just go home there and then," Kitaura said.

"That wasn't it at all!" chuckled Sakamoto. "The truth is that I was so inspired I couldn't put it into words. I think anyone would become speechless if they were presented with storyboards that were so far beyond their wildest dreams.

"Kitaura-san's passion was really apparent in those storyboards. That's why I decided to ask him to be responsible for all production, not just for the cinematics, but doing production for gameplay parts too."

When it came to viewing the actual cut-scenes Sakamoto was even more moved, according to Kitaura. "He stood close to me, checking the monitors. When we'd shoot a particularly moving scene, I'd ask him 'How was that, Sakamoto-san?', but he'd be completely silent - again.

"I was really worried, thinking 'Oh no, he doesn't like it...' But then when I peeked at his face, his eyes were full of tears," Kitaura said. "Well, the cinematic did show Samus in tights."

In total Kitaura drew more than 300 storyboards featuring over 2000 images. It took him more than six months to get them all done.

You can find out whether it was worth the effort when Metroid: Other M is released for Wii on 3rd September. In the meantime, there are billions of videos over on the gamepage.